Insurance Organizations Seek Ways to Create a Flexible Work Environment

July 2, 2012

Kansas City, Kan.— As economic conditions continue to slowly improve and companies are once again beginning to hire new employees to rebuild their workforce, employers across the country are looking for ways to attract and retain employees without resorting to hefty pay increases or expensive benefit plans. As a result, some employers have found that adopting a results-only work environment (ROWE) may be the key to creating an attractive work environment for employees.

ROWE evaluates employees solely on their output and not the amount of time spent in the office. Employees are free to take as much time off from work as needed as long as their established goals are being met. Employees working under ROWE are not micro-managed and hold greater accountability for the work they are producing. There have been reports of companies who, as a result of adopting ROWE, have experienced increased employee productivity and reduced voluntary turnover.

Most companies, however, still utilize the traditional work environment model, offering time-off programs to employees as a part of their benefit package. The 2012 Compensation Data Insurance survey results found 58.5 percent of insurance industry employers offer a formal paid time-off (PTO) program to their employees, which groups together vacation, sick and personal days. Most insurance employers accrue PTO based on years of service, with exempt employees with five years on the job receiving 21.3 days of PTO.

“Offering time-off benefits is a good way to boost the value of a comprehensive benefit package, while minimizing out-of-pocket costs,” said Amy Kaminski, director of marketing for Compdata Surveys. “Some employers are even offering flexible schedules or telecommuting, in addition to time-off programs, in an effort to create a more flexible work environment for their employees.”

About the SurveyCompensation Data 2012 Insurance provides a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefits information and pay practices with an effective date of January 1, 2012. More than 100 industry-specific job titles and 400 benchmark titles were surveyed ranging from entry-level to top executives, with data collected from more than 1,900 insurance employers across the country.

Compdata Surveys has been providing comprehensive data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988 and is the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Thousands of organizations provide data in each of our eight industry specific surveys each year, ensuring the reliability of our results. For more information about the compensation and benefits surveys, contact Michelle Willis at (800) 300-9570.